OK, but none of these is strenuous in the sense that Half Dome is: 16 miles, 5000 foot climb, and 5000 foot descent.

It's easy to get the equivalent exercise by hiking over Clouds Rest instead of Half Dome, then return. Or by doing some tough off-trail stuff, which is well reported in this forum.

If you want to limit the discussion to what you can do from the Valley without a car shuttle, there are limited options.

You can go up the Falls Trail, go to North Dome, then proceed down the Snow Creek Trail to the valley.

You can go up the Four Mile Trail, and then over the Panorama Trail and down the Mist Trail (about 12 miles). Or, you can go up the Four Mile Trail and take the Phono Trail to its end at Inspiration Point, then down the trail (old road) to the Bridalveil Falls parking lot and along the valley trails back to Swinging Bridge and the Lodge shuttle stop.

Finally, if you can hitch a ride to the Foresta trailhead, you can start there, headed past El Capitan, and come down the Falls Trail or the Snow Creek Trail. That latter one is more than long enough to qualify....

I actually think Half Dome is a very overrated hike. The unprepared people there always detract from the experience for me. The great hikes, IMO, in Yosemite are in the High Country, but that's just me.

Here is a more scenic alternative to Half Dome on the Valley Floor and just about as strenuous:

Begin at the trailhead for the Four Mile Trail on the Valley Floor. Ascend 3500 feet to Glacier Point (you can fill your bladder or water bottles there from the water fountain). Continues towards Nevada Falls, descending about 1600 feet. Return. Total mileage is almost 20 miles and it's a far more beautiful hike than Half Dome with far fewer people. If you want to add another 2.5 miles, go to Sentinel Dome on your way back before descending to the valley floor via the Four Mile trail.

Nine of us did the Panorama Trail last year...started at Upper Pines, instead of the 4 Mile Trailhead. Nice to end up closer to camp. (Some from our group only hike once a year...on our Yosemite trip.) The Half Dome cables were still down...that's what was planned.

Quite a few years back, my husband and I did Rockslides up to El Cap and came out via the Yosemite Falls trail. The bottoms of my feet were pretty sore after that one.

Short, but probably one of the most strenous, at times for me, is Mount Dana. (oops...not Yosemite Valley.)

Upper Yosemite falls will kick your butt. El Cap from Hwy 120 (I think?) is awesome. We went up El Cap, spent the night (with NO people around) and hiked down via Yosemite Falls. Panorama is awesome, but 'easy' for the valley.

We did Happy Isles to Nevada, went over on the Panorama Trail, down into Illilouette, up to Glacier Point, down the Four Mile and back to Curry.

AWESOME day. Hardly any people once we got away from Nevada Falls. It nearly killed one guy who didn't read the description of all the elevation gain and loss but he made it back slowly, got out around dusk.

This year we have Upper Yosemite Falls and El Cap from the valley floor on the menu. I'm also doing a short cross country loop out of Tuolumne Meadows - a lot of nervous nellies in the hiking group are going to fuss over that because of the lack of a security blanket (aka trail) is going to drive them nuts, but we're going, and it'll be great.

Make sure you get to the top of Eagle Peak while you're in the area.Easy to skip as you're walking by and only see the sign pointing to the spur trail.DON'T SKIP!, it has one of the best views in the park!

Quotematty
What are some sights to see on the lower elevations? other than your typical Half Dome and Yosemite Falls.

I could name a bunch of specifics but the truth is that it's hard to look much of anywhere in Yosemite and not find something beautiful and fascinating. Some are major (look up at El Capitan as you're walking along the El Cap bridge (I like this perspective better than the more popular viewing point from the Southside Drive). Walk down close to the Merced...whether it's late in the season and you gaze in to it's mirror-like serenity or it's late spring and you're dazzled by the roiling torrent that is almost like a horizontal waterfall (which, in some respects, it is). Watch for mule deer in the meadow at twilight. Don't miss Fern Spring (the smallest waterfall in the park) at the western-most end of the Southside Drive, just after it comes over the Pohono Bridge. Cathedral Spires, when seen from the right angle on the Valley Floor is almost stunningly like looking at a Gothic Cathedral. If you're there in late spring or early summer, you can see a dozen or more waterfalls, not just the famous, named ones but many ephemerals (named or not) which range from the ethereally gossamer wisps of Horsetail Falls to some fairly intense unnamed ones dropping from both the North and South rims.

If you leave the Valley floor, there are some wonderful low-altitude hikes in the Wawona area (the meadow and some nice views of the lower Chilnuana Falls come to mind). Drive to the historic settlement of Foresta (largely (but not entirely) destroyed in the infamous A-Rock fire of 1990). Walk around Big Meadow, get your feet on a bit of the Old Coulterville Road (the first stage road to reach the Valley Floor in 1874) or brave a little bit of an elevation loss (gain on the return) and take the Old Foresta Road down to the small but stunning Foresta Falls (best in "waterfall season" )).

The list goes on and on...By all means, spend a few bucks on a good hiking book (even though you might not think of walks around the Valley floor as hiking, many day-hike books will give you some great ideas about the many simple, easy hikes to be found throughout the Park). But the best sights will always be those you discover yourself. Whether it's a fleeting glimpse of a coyote or bobcat walking along the road, an especially beautiful flower you never saw before or happening to look up just as the wind catches the water coming off of Bridalveil Fall and whips it in to some really special formation for a fraction of a second.

When I stopped at the park entrance last year to pick up my wilderness permit, the group ahead of me was asking the young ranger at the counter for suggestions on places in the park to visit. The ranger didn't recommend any place specific. He handed them one of the Yosemite guide books from the book store shelf, and the group went out on the porch to start planning their trip from scratch.

Dog Lake is about a 400' climb and really should be combined with Lembert Dome, which would make it about an 850' climb to 9,450' altitude. You can do it as a loop trail withDog lake just a small side detour. Given the views available from Lembert Dome it would be a shame to got to Dog Lake and not include Lembert Dome. In any event, it's a short hike so you don't have to kill yourself doing it. Take your time and enjoy the views.

I always consider Sentinel Dome to be one of the best pay-off hikes in or near the Valley. It's short, has relatively little elevation gain and gives you spectacular 360-degree views from the top. You're almost as high as Half Dome with a tiny fraction of the effort.--David K

QuoteMarksm
Any recommendation for long 6-8 hour hikes that are not too strenuous?

The guys on this forum won't have any idea of what you would consider "strenuous". Here is what I always suggest when I'm unsure of the physical condition of the person asking:

Go up the Four Mile Trail. All the strenuous uphill is at the start of this loop. If you poop out at any time, just turn around. This trail has the easiest going back down of any of the valley-to-rim trails. When you get to Glacier Point (with its rest rooms, drinking fountain, and ice cream stand), you can still bail out by going back the way you came or catching the bus back to the valley. Assuming that you are still in good shape, continue down via the eight mile trail, i.e., across the Panorama Trail to Nevada Falls, then down the Mist Trail back to Happy Isles.

This way down is not "strenuous", but you should carry some Alleve for your knees.

This is about 12 miles and with the uphill bit on the Panorama Trail, it totals about 4000 feet of climbing. 8 hours is about right. It provides the best views for the effort of any hike in the Valley.